The Doctor Who Thread.....

[Tallguy 3,544]

I think this was the first time I ever looked at the beginnings of this thread! WOW!

 

On 03/04/2005 at 9:17 AM, Morn said:

I don't like the casting. The new doctor is some young punk.

 

Hee hee hee.

 

Anyway, I came here to make everyone feel old in a DIFFERENT way.

 

 

At this point the only Doctors I had seen other than Tom Baker were in magazines and The Five Doctors. Here in the States we hadn't even seen the costume yet. I was just taking my first steps into the ridiculousness that is fandom.

 

I think this is probably right around the fortieth anniversary of my first convention as well! (Yup. April 20–22, 1984!)

[Sweeping Strings 2,410]

If that's how Morn felt about Eccleston, he must've LOVED Tennant and Smith  .

[Richard Penna 3,781]

Varada Sethu joining Gibson as another companion alongside Gibson for 2025 series: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-68802766

 

Looks like all the rumours about Gibson being fired (or leaving for some other reason) were clickbaity rubbish. Unless it had emerged that Gibson was a nightmare to work with, there would be no sense in someone leaving a reboot so quickly. I guess it must've been the talk about a new actress that led the usual suspects to decide she was replacing Gibson.

[DarthDementous 1,060]

7 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

Varada Sethu joining Gibson as another companion alongside Gibson for 2025 series: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-68802766

 

Looks like all the rumours about Gibson being fired (or leaving for some other reason) were clickbaity rubbish. Unless it had emerged that Gibson was a nightmare to work with, there would be no sense in someone leaving a reboot so quickly. I guess it must've been the talk about a new actress that led the usual suspects to decide she was replacing Gibson.

LOL absolute clown world. unbelievable.

I'm glad I was skeptical of these rumours

[TBO1711 32]

I hope either next week or the week after they release a song album for The Devil's Chord even if it's only 4 or 5 songs.

[Richard Penna 3,781]

I'm far more vested in whether Gold is going to bother releasing anything from this series. I've been hoping for a specials release, timed (if they must) to start with the new series in a bit.

[Sweeping Strings 2,410]

RTD has said the sonic now looks like a remote/flip-phone because the previous designs 'looked too much like a gun'. 

 

Wonder what's next ... the Daleks not screaming 'EXTERMINATE!' any more? 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,732]

"SLIGHTLY MAIM! SLIGHTLY MAIM!! CAUSE MILD BRUISING!"

 

Doesn't work, does it.

Honestly, nothing surprises me, now. The lengths that people and organisations will go to, to not offend, is staggering.

Doesn't the idiot in charge of DW at the moment know of the history of the sonic screwdriver? It is, and it never has been a weapon.

[Tallguy 3,544]

2 hours ago, Sweeping Strings said:

the previous designs 'looked too much like a gun'. 

 

You know, there are times that people say things that clearly indicate that they have never been around actual guns very much. But this seems to indicate that RTD has never actually SEEN a gun? Or his main experience with guns are Dalek ray thingys and Star Trek TNG phasers?

[Sweeping Strings 2,410]

1 hour ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

"SLIGHTLY MAIM! SLIGHTLY MAIM!! CAUSE MILD BRUISING!"

 

Doesn't work, does it.

Honestly, nothing surprises me, now. The lengths that people and organisations will go to, to not offend, is staggering.

Doesn't the idiot in charge of DW at the moment know of the history of the sonic screwdriver? It is, and it never has been a weapon.

'Why are you holding them like that? What are you going to do ... assemble a cabinet at them? They're scientific instruments, not weapons.' 

It's like a continuation of that logic from the Whittaker giant spiders episode, where shooting them was 'barbaric' but luring them to a panic room to suffocate was fine.   

[Tom Guernsey 2,331]

Does seem an odd thing to say. I do kinda wander whether sometimes people who make tv say more than is necessary. An entirely reasonable explanation would be “we wanted to try for a new look”. You can like or not like it but when a tv show is that old, there’s no shame in reinventing things to some extent without needing an explanation.

 

On the other hand we have a sonic screwdriver tv remote and I made “pew pew” noises with it when we first got it. So maybe he has a point. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,732]

4 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

On the other hand we have a sonic screwdriver tv remote and I made “pew pew” noises with it when we first got it. So maybe he has a point. 

 

[Richard Penna 3,781]

4 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Does seem an odd thing to say. I do kinda wander whether sometimes people who make tv say more than is necessary. An entirely reasonable explanation would be “we wanted to try for a new look”. You can like or not like it but when a tv show is that old, there’s no shame in reinventing things to some extent without needing an explanation.

 

This - RTD should make whatever changes he wants to do and reinvent as necessary. This goes back to the wheelchair-free Davros thing - just do it and let the result speak for itself.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,732]

The Mouse is getting its claws into DOCTOR WHO.

[DarthDementous 1,060]

2 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

The Mouse is getting its claws into DOCTOR WHO.

 

this isn't coming from Disney

I looked into the original quote, it was indirect and was about not wanting kids to pretend to shoot each other with sonic screwdrivers. I guess he's a bit sensitive towards the situation in America

[HunterTech 997]

Oh yeah, I was gonna say earlier that no one had found a direct quote of RTD saying specifically what the headlines wrote, so we should be cautious before the click bait make us feed into our negative impulses even further.

 

I would think the sonic screwdriver wouldn't be much different from someone holding a wand, but that still hasn't stopped police from misidentifying toys as weapons unfortunately .

[Sweeping Strings 2,410]

3 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

The Mouse is getting its claws into DOCTOR WHO.

I have been 'Hmm ... REALLY?' about Disney allegedly having no creative control ever since their involvement was announced. 

'What do I think about an American Doctor Who? I think it would be bloody awful' - Steven Moffat. That said, he did write one of the upcoming episodes. 

Time will tell ... it always does.   

[Tallguy 3,544]

3 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

The Mouse is getting its claws into DOCTOR WHO.

 

Well the Mouse just made the end of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. All the guns you could possibly want.

 

This isn't Disney, this is unfiltered RTD.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,732]

Personally, I think that The Mouse is having a lot more control over the programme than we are being told.

RTD never worried about this in the past. In fact, the show went out of its way to advertise the fact that the sonic screwdriver is, and has never been, a weapon.

Who is the real power behind the throne?

[Tallguy 3,544]

1 minute ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Personally, I think that The Mouse is having a lot more control over the programme than we are being told.

RTD never worried about this in the past. In fact, the show went out of its way to advertise the fact that the sonic screwdriver is, and has never been, a weapon.

Who is the real power behind the throne?

 

I might agree with that if these episodes felt like anything other than RTD turned to 11.

[Richard Penna 3,781]

Tbh if a bit of interference from The Mouse regarding non lethal sonic and a fully-abled villain is what it takes to get a show that gets more funding, so be it.

 

None of these things are actually problems in that there's no effect on the story or the entertainment value of the show. I really enjoyed all of the new episodes so far and hadn't even noticed the new sonic until it was pointed out here.

 

It's not a big deal.

[Sweeping Strings 2,410]

If the intention is lean even harder into the notion that the Doctor is a non-violent hero that makes having him effectively spear the Goblin King to death at Christmas Day teatime (presumably watched by many kiddiewinks) strange, no? 

[Richard Penna 3,781]

The point where they stop killing villains, or only by a severe ticking off the Doctor, is the point where I'll start to ask questions.

[Marian Schedenig 8,261]

15 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

This - RTD should make whatever changes he wants to do and reinvent as necessary. This goes back to the wheelchair-free Davros thing - just do it and let the result speak for itself.

 

Right, I was going to say the same.

 

They changed the design of the sonic screwdriver. - Ok, fine.

They changed the design of the sonic screwdriver again. - Ok, fine.

They changed the sonic screwdriver into sonic sunglasses. - Ok, fine.

They changed back to a sonic screwdriver. - Ok, fine.

They changed the design of the sonic screwdriver again… - Ok, fine.

…to make it look less like a weapon. - WHAT? HOW DARE THEY? EXTREMIST WOKE DISNEY SOCIAL WARRIORS!

 

Seriously, what's the big deal?

 

56 minutes ago, Sweeping Strings said:

If the intention is lean even harder into the notion that the Doctor is a non-violent hero that makes having him effectively spear the Goblin King to death at Christmas Day teatime (presumably watched by many kiddiewinks) strange, no? 

 

Maybe, but what's the strange bit about it? In my experience (disclaimer: Coming from someone who's watched the 2005+ version and only seen a few bits and bobs of the earlier series), the Doctor has always been a strict (often "militantly") non-violent person. Generally not using weapons is one aspect of that. Having a sonic screwdriver that doesn't look like a weapon (no matter if it did look like one before or not) is consistent with that. Maybe stabbing the Goblin King is the incongruent bit here?

 

 

[Richard Penna 3,781]

Actually that's a good point - the Doctor's mantra in all the shows I've seen is to resolve conflicts by diplomacy; killing or injuring an alien/antagonist being only a last resort. In Smith's first episode he just warns the big eye thing that earth is protected and to just leave.

 

The problem is when that's pointed out and people get upset for some reason.

[Tallguy 3,544]

12 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

In Smith's first episode he just warns the big eye thing that earth is protected and to just leave.

 

Because, he says, look at the other invaders that have crossed the Doctor and "what happened to them". Oh, and he doesn't just ask them to leave. He says "Hello. I'm the Doctor. Basically... Run."

 

If that's diplomacy it's of the gunboat variety.

[Sweeping Strings 2,410]

 

I like the 'If you stay, then whatever happens next is your own fault' aspect of the Doctor. There's something to be said for the 'core of steel' beneath the empathy and all that. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,732]

It's "aggressive negotiations" 

[Tallguy 3,544]

24 minutes ago, Sweeping Strings said:

 

I like the 'If you stay, then whatever happens next is your own fault' aspect of the Doctor. There's something to be said for the 'core of steel' beneath the empathy and all that. 

 

That sounds like Justified. I mean, I'm all for it. Davros had a point in Journey's End.

[Sweeping Strings 2,410]

I should clarify (Clara-fy?) ... I was referring to those being the options the Doctor gives his enemies, not new companions. 

[Sweeping Strings 2,410]

First 2 eps are going out as a double-bill on Beeb 1 on Sat evening, for those in the UK who still like their first viewing to be when the show actually airs. And it's been announced that Ruby's bisexual ... not much of a surprise with modern-day Who I suppose, but here's hoping the 'messages' don't overwhelm the sci-fi adventuring.  

[Naïve Old Fart 9,732]

On 04/05/2024 at 11:30 AM, Sweeping Strings said:

I should clarify (Clara-fy?) ... 

 

[Sweeping Strings 2,410]

2 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

 

New Who villain idea ... one who kills via the medium of dodgy puns  . 

[Richard Penna 3,781]

20 minutes ago, Sweeping Strings said:

First 2 eps are going out as a double-bill on Beeb 1 on Sat evening, for those in the UK who still like their first viewing to be when the show actually airs. And it's been announced that Ruby's bisexual ... not much of a surprise with modern-day Who I suppose, but here's hoping the 'messages' don't overwhelm the sci-fi adventuring.  

 

The messages became problematic in Chib's era when they started to completely dictate the stories, i.e. that one about mental health, where I can't even begin to remember what happened in the episode. He forgot Who is meant to be fun and exciting.

 

If they're ingredients in an otherwise interesting and fun story, go for it.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,732]

1 hour ago, Sweeping Strings said:

New Who villain idea ... one who kills via the medium of dodgy puns  . 

 

The Punster 

 

 

 

 

59 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

 

The messages became problematic in Chib's era when they started to completely dictate the stories, i.e. that one about mental health, where I can't even begin to remember what happened in the episode. 

 

Mental health has been done far more effectively, in DW ('In The Forest Of The Night'/'The Mind Of Evil').

[Richard Penna 3,781]

I wouldn't mind so much if they were encapsulated in interesting stories but they just weren't. Oddly, the one where Chib shouted at the audience for buying plastic DW merch and destroying the planet has what I thought was one of the more interesting stories/monsters. Whatever the story was with the mental health one, I can't remember which means it wasn't strong.

 

Of Whittaker's last episodes I really liked the one in the storage place, and guess what, no messages. But Flux also had no messages that I can remember and that was one of the dullest sections of DW I've ever seen.

[Sweeping Strings 2,410]

The Radio Times (not produced in-house by the Beeb any more, but still very much the most 'BBC-friendly' listings magazine) saying of the Rosa Parks episode (only Whittaker's 3rd, if memory serves) 'This is less teatime fun and more a lecture' has stayed with me. 

Things got to the stage during the Chinballs era of me being pleasantly surprised when the Villa Diodati and Spyfall eps didn't label Byron and Bond respectively as 'toxic males'.  

[Naïve Old Fart 9,732]

I didn't understand a single second, of 'Flux'.

[Richard Penna 3,781]

I have no idea whatsoever what the plot of Flux was.

[Sweeping Strings 2,410]

I sort of had a handle on what was happening during the first 3 episodes, but got lost during the remaining 3. There's that 15-minute explanation video that Chibnall posted on YouTube, but frankly I didn't and still don't care enough to watch it.  

[Naïve Old Fart 9,732]

When DOCTOR WHO needs a 15-minute "explanation video" posted by the showrunner, then you know that it's in trouble.

The death knell for DW was tolled the minute that Whittaker was revealed as 13.

[Richard Penna 3,781]

2 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

The death knell for DW was tolled the minute that Whittaker was revealed as 13.

 

Huh? What's it got to do with Whittaker?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,732]

Good question!

As soon as a woman was announced, the audience had to alter its perceptions and expectations, and adjust to a Doctor who would not act the way that a man would act. Also, the production team needed to write differently for a female Doctor. The emphasis changed, dramatically, when Whittaker took over, to the detriment of the show.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: that Chibnall's tenure turned out to be so monumentally awful, had absolutely nothing to do with her. Given the right script, she can be a great actor, but she was hamstrung time and time again, by poor scripts, and lacklustre and unimaginative direction, and in the end, audiences gave up. It's an established fact that 'The Legend Of The Sea Devils' is the lowest-watched DW story in its entire 60 year history - and for a damn good reason!

It's clear that Chibnall wanted to do something radical with DW, and to say something unique, but he had no idea how to do it, and he had no idea how to say it.

[Richard Penna 3,781]

I agree with all of that regarding why it was a bad tenure, but it would remain true even with another male actor. Whittaker is witty and fun when given good scripts. Nope, its death knell was Chib.

[HunterTech 997]

Starting to maybe wonder if Attack the Block is semi-cursed for anyone who tried to get gigs afterwards, since Whittaker and Boyega were certainly unlucky to be involved in the most controversial tenures for each of their respective franchises.

[Knight of Ren 796]

Does anyone know at what time will the episodes drop on Disney+?

 

Also, has there been any news regarding a soundtrack release for the specials and/or the new season? Some great music in the four specials, and I really want to properly listen to the 15th Doctor and Ruby's themes. In my opinion, they are Gold at the top of his game!

[Richard Penna 3,781]

If nothing happens within the next couple of weeks to coincide with the start of the new series, I think we're looking at either a release in the late Autumn (i.e. some time after the series finishes) or the same timing as series 10 (so, forget it).

 

There's more quotes from Gold here:

 

Quote

when I did the series 9 album, before it was released it was sitting on my agency's server

 

Quote

 

 'Well, we go to quite a lot of additional effort to put out these records'. It sounds like I'm moaning on but it wasn't just the people who stole it, it was everybody who gleefully passed it on. And fine, it was enthusiastic and blah blah blah. And it sort of just made me question, 'what is the value of releasing an album?'.

 

In answer to his last part, if an album was sitting on his agent's server and hackers got it, and everyone was excited.... I completely fail to see what the problem is!

 

The album has been made and is sitting on his agent's server.... how about you release it, Murray? You don't need some massive multi-billion dollar marketing compaign requiring an album to be completed months in advance to press CDs. Drop it digitally, ask Silva to send out an e-mail and watch the fans swarm. The fact that people wanted to resort to hacking indicates how much they wanted to buy it! FFS.

[Tallguy 3,544]

18 hours ago, HunterTech said:

the most controversial tenures for each of their respective franchises.

 

There's an Attack of the Clones thread you can visit to see which era of Star Wars is controversial.

[mstrox 6,682]

I had no problem understanding Flux - made a lot more sense to me than some of the twisty stuff they pulled under Eleven.

[IheartMelissaBenoist 44]

12 hours ago, Knight of Ren said:

Does anyone know at what time will the episodes drop on Disney+?

 

Same time as iPlayer, I believe, meaning 7pm Eastern on Friday May 10th.

 

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.